This is the week before Lent starts.  The world beyond church may have forgotten Lent and is leapfrogging over to Easter,  stocking up on Peeps and Easter grass.  But we in the church are blessed to have this yearly rhythm of darkness and reflection.

During Lent we intentionally enter “darkness” with special disciplines and prayers.  It’s truly a rehearsal for those days of darkness we do not get to choose:  illness, addictions, anxiety, loneliness, depression, death.  Lent is a rehearsal for these dark times and this great truth:  Christ  also enters these dark places, for our sake.

In this Sunday’s lessons we’ll hear about places of darkness that become zones of blessing and rescue: a cistern of deadly sludge; a destructive pit of mud; the belly of a whale, even Jesus’s descent into hell.

These lessons are truly a preview of Lent!  But before we’re into full-on Lent, mark your calendar for these two great traditions:

• Our Shrove Tuesday Party, March 5, 5:30PM at Stevenson School’s Douglas Hall.
• Our Ash Wednesday worship, March 6 at 6PM — a powerful and solemn service.